A2DP Bluetooth audio receiver?

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jff1625

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#15296 14-Aug-2007 16:49

My partner and I like to watch movies on the laptop screen while in bed. The audio cable to my speakers is a drag, and the laptops built in speakers are rubbish. I'd like to get rid of the wire and send the audio to the speakers over BT. I've seen plenty of BT headphones, but BT (A2DP) audio receivers without the built-in headphones are hard to find.

Has anybody tried this? Does it work? Can anybody recommend a product, or even where to look for one?

I saw this review by Mauricio from a while back, but the product seems to be no longer available.
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=3124

Can anybody help?

thanks,
Jeff

jff1625

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#82738 17-Aug-2007 17:33

Well, after a PM advice from chiefie, I got a Sony HWSBTA2W Portable Bluetooth Transmitter & Receiver

http://www.sony.co.nz/products/product/audio/bluetooth/hwsbta2w.jsp

And it works pretty well. Audio quality is almost as good as wired - a quick eq helps. It's also a little skippy when used with my bluetooth mouse and/or keyboard. Otherwise fiiine.

I called the Sony shop in Mt Wellington and they said they had one in stock, and yes, I could come try it out with my laptop, so I did. It was easy to pair up with the lappy (Acer 8104, with Broadcom BCM2035 bluetooth 1.2 chip) and as I said, it sounds pretty decent. I was particularly impressed with the level of service in the SonyStyle retail shop.

Now I just need all my USB and Firewire connections to be wireless!

cheers,
Jeff

chiefie

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#82739 17-Aug-2007 17:37

Awesome... as long as it is easy to pair/set up (with Bluetooth) then there's good use for Bluetooth-equipped laptop. I have had hard experience with bluetooth devices but this won't be too bad then.

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jff1625

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#82794 18-Aug-2007 09:12

so far my biggest gripe about it is that it seems I have to pair it again every time I restart the computer, either a hard restart or from hibernation. but it is very easy to pair, so not a huge hassle.

by the way, I just installed the widcomm BT driver a couple of days before getting this, using the download from broadcom.com
I'd tried this download in the past and it hadn't worked ie i was still stuck with the rubbish MS driver, but this time the broadcom/widcomm update worked, so they must have updated/improved it recently. (MS driver doesn't support A2DP stereo audio streaming)

freitasm

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#82797 18-Aug-2007 09:17

It shouldn't be like this. It indicates either you are not running as Administrator, or the software wasn't installed as Administrator, or a corrupted registry.

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jff1625

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#82820 18-Aug-2007 13:01

freitasm: It shouldn't be like this. It indicates either you are not running as Administrator, or the software wasn't installed as Administrator, or a corrupted registry.

interesting. this makes me think its fixable. It was definatley installed as admin, and i always run as admin, so that just leaves corrupted registry. that wouldn't surprise me at all, what with all the attempted updates to broadcom / widcomm and logitech bluetooth software i've done.

do you think perhaps an uninstall/re-install of logitech setpoint for BT might help? I haven't done it since updating from MS to widcomm bluetooth stack/driver.

update: I was having trouble with the bt mouse getting laggy, so I tried reconnecting it, but stopped working altogether using widcomm driver. So I uninstalled setpoint and widcomm, then I could connect the mouse just fine, but the MS bluetooth driver would only connect to the Sony audio box, not send audio. Logitech's instructions for installing Setpoint say to uninstall widcomm driver and all previous versions of setpoint first, So next I re-installed setpoint, connected the mouse ok, but still the sony box wouldn't work - only connect. Next step was re-installing widcomm. I think its important to install widcomm AFTER setpoint or else the drivers get a little schizophrenic? So anyway, now everything seems hunky dory - mouse tracking as well as an MX1000 should, BT audio sounding pretty good - (unless I move the mouse a lot- doesn't really bother me as my main use for the bt audio pretty much requires use of the touchpad rather than mouse anyway. If i'm using the mouse I'll be at the desk and can plug the speakers in the old fashioned way) Also I don't have to pair any of the gadgets again, altho I do have to doubleclick the 'connect' icon for the bt audio before it'll work, but no more messing with passcodes and the ID SET button on the bt audio.

taniwha

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#82853 18-Aug-2007 23:14

hmm... maybe you wanna check out these BLUETOOTH PILLOWS.

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jff1625

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#82862 19-Aug-2007 09:20

taniwha: hmm... maybe you wanna check out these BLUETOOTH PILLOWS.

or how about the bluetooth hug shirt!

problem is, both of those require a bluetooth cellphone, and I don't have one, nor particularly want one.
I guess I win the prize for most BT gear without a BT phone!